iGorilla is a software application (app) that is designed for use with the internet and multimedia enabled smartphones iPhone or iPod Touch, which were created by Apple Inc. iGorilla is the first app to be dedicated to the protection of mountain gorillas and is evidence that organizations involved in wildlife conservation are using digital media technology to raise funds and awareness by communicating directly with people who are concerned about the planet’s biological heritage. Design The app was developed by I-SITE, a US-registered company that has been designing websites and interactive media since 1996. The company, based at an old toy store in Philadelphia, has created websites and applications for scooters, magazines, kids, beverages, analgesics and plants. Operating requirements iGorilla works with all iPhones and iPod Touches running 2.0 software or later. Users require Wi-Fi, EDGE, or 3G network. Cost and use of funds When it was launched, in May 2010, the app cost $3.99 to download from the iTunes App Store. They pledge that 70 percent of that money goes directly to pay field staff involved in the protection of gorillas. Concept The purpose of the app is to enable iPhone and iPod Touch owners worldwide to follow the daily lives of the mountain gorillas that live in Virunga National Park (ViNP), in the Democratic Republic of Congo(DRC). The app allows users to access information, in the form of blogs and videos sent directly from ViNP, pertaining to the gorillas and their families, and the park rangers, vets and staff who look after them. The mountain gorilla Gorillas are the largest of the living primates. The mountain gorilla (Gorilla beringei beringei), one of the two subspecies of eastern gorilla, is found in the Virunga Mountains in Central Africa and in the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest in Uganda. The lowland eastern gorilla (Gorilla beringei graueri), also known as the Grauer's gorilla, is a subspecies of eastern gorilla and is only found in the forests of eastern DRC. ViNP is home to around two-hundred of the seven-hundred and fifty mountain gorillas left alive. The mountain gorilla is a critically endangered species. ViNP's gorilla population is particularly vulnerable because the DRC is so politically unstable. Virunga National Park and the Congolese Wildlife Authority ViNP, Africa’s oldest national park and a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1979, lies in eastern DRC and covers 7,800 square kilometers.< The park is managed by the Congolese Wildlife